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I was just thinking about Chaos speed lt's.  They are great for disrupting battle lines/enemy plans, and weigh in a little over 100 points.

a 3 man scout bike squad with a power fist weighs in about that much (Or less, depending on the lt), and can get the 'dreaded' first turn charge.

I was just wondering about taking a squad of them to do the same thing.  A cheap suicide squad, though one that will be great vs Tau/Guard armies. 

I use scout bikers from time to time and they can be really useful.

Against mech lists they are a huge asset as for 81 points you get a squad that if it goes first, is pretty much garaunteed to destroy a vehicle with their melta bombs.

If you go second, they absorb fire from at least one unit, which is good too.

Also, at 112 points you can give them a vet sarge with a bolt pistol and power fist and they can get a first turn charge and really damage enemy dedicated shooty units, like tau suits, dev squads, etc.

they are a cheap, useful unit that can get a big return on their point investment and if they die, well hell, at least they took some shots the rest of your army would have had to absorb.

Also, they are very useful for taking table quarters objectives with a last turn turbo boost if needed.

I think in the end, if you know who your opponant will be they can be a huge asset, but in competetive tounry play, they are best left at home.

They are competing against to many other good options in that fast attack slot. Mainly Tornadoes and Assault marines. Scout rule and first turn are almost a gauranteed tank kill tho'.

They might be useful with the Be Swift as Wind trait. Four shooty tac squads, one or two tank killer scout bike units, and the speeders and assault marines you'd usually put in the FA squads.

The Scout move on Ravenwing has got me thinking that being able to deliver a good bit of bikes on the first turn all with PF sarges, at least as a way to get an effective DA Troop Choice.

Scout bikes I think are alright, but aren't worth it over other FA slots which are normally pretty precious in my marine armies. Some traits can let you play with the FOC though, so they may be worth it if you want to trait it up.

My only problem using them is that they're not so hot against other assault armies most of the time. Or against Mech Skimmer Lists, and what they're already great against I don't need much help with anyway.

And I still think that the Speed Lt/Lord is much, much better. :p

*laughs* All depends on the mission and your opponent.

I've used Calidus and Daemonhosts as disrupting units to great effect before too.

I generally only use two FA slots in my marine armies anyways, so I'm not giving up anything to use them.

On the plus side, Scout Bikers will probably get you a comp boost while Speed lords will give you a
comp drop.

They're certainly great at removing supporting fire units. They can chew through las/plas squads, dev's, guard, all that jazz.

As far as the comp boost, well they're certainly easier to kill with shooting than a speed lord/lt is if you don't get first turn, but if you do get first turn your opponent will still probably dock your comp because you took a "min/maxed" unit that had en explicit and potentially devastating purpose that worked for you.

And when you take units that do one thing really well and they work that game, it's an instant comp hit from my experience. :p

All too true around here...I've learned that it doesn't matter what I take, as long as I win I get tanked on sports and comp...

I don't have the marine dex in front of me but I don't believe you can take scout bikes as troops with the be swift as the wind trait. I believe it's only for regular bike squads. Scouts are still fast attack options so they are back to competing against Tornados.

If you go by the GW Forum FAQ that said it's any bike squadron (Including scout/attack bike) then you can.